The Sumatran Tiger Trust
Registered Charity No 1082186 (UK)

2007 - a completely new exciting programme of activities and protection and we need you to help us continue to make it the most successful Tiger Protection Programme as it has been for the past 10 years, With the most experienced Tiger Protection and Education team in Indonesia.

”Together…! Save the Sumatran Tiger”

Sumatran Tiger

Panthera tigris sumatrae

The Sumatran tiger as its name suggests is found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.  It is the smallest of the tigers alive today - a Sumatran male will measure an average of 2.4m from its nose to the tip of its tail and weigh between100-170kg.  Like all tigers the Sumatran is critically endangered because of poaching and habitat destruction there are as few as 350 left in the wild today.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia (The Animals)

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata (animals with backbones)

Class: Mammalia (Mammals)

Order: Carnivora (Meat-eaters)

Family: Felidae (The Cats)

Genus: Panthera

Species: tigris (the tigers)

Subspecies: sumatrae (Sumatran)

Life span

Tigers live about 10-15 years in the wild, and about 20 years in captivity.

Found 

Sumatran tigers are distinctive for being the only subspecies to live in isolation on a large island they have been isolated from their cousins on mainland Asia for over 10,000 years; this happened after a rise in sea level. 

At the turn of the century, there were three subspecies of tiger in Indonesia -  the Bali tiger (on Bali) the Javan tiger (Java) and the Sumatran. Today both the Bali and Javan tigers are EXTINCT and only the Sumatran tiger survives.

Sumatra prior to 1900 was largely covered in primary forest and the tiger was more or less found throughout the entire island. Today just 100 years later its distribution has become fragmented and substantially reduced. Although found in all the islands eight provinces in highly populated areas such as the provinces of North Sumatra and Lampung, the animal has been squeezed out. About 350 wild Sumatran tigers are believed to exist, primarily in the island's five national parks.

The historical documentation of tigers in Sumatra is sketchy. In 1978, a question-and-answer survey in Sumatra estimated the number of tigers to be about 1,000. Since then, Sumatra has undergone much agricultural development, and subsequently tiger habitat has declined. More recent surveys for Sumatran tigers by the Indonesian Department of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHPA) put the number "not in the thousands but in the hundreds." In 1985, a survey of local forestry staff and people living near tiger areas estimated the distribution of tigers and tentatively identified 26 protected areas in Sumatra where tigers might live. If these habitats were completely saturated with tigers, there could be up to 800 Sumatran tigers.

Habitat & Distribution of the Tiger

Tigers live in Asia, primarily in forests the Sumatran tiger is found throughout Sumatra in habitat that ranges from lowland forest to sub-montain and montain forest with some peat-moss forest.
Tigers evolved in south central China and moved to nearby areas, like Siberia, Sumatra, Indochina, and India. There are no tigers native to Africa. The fact that the tiger still survives in all the eight provinces in Sumatra is down to its adaptability and versatility, but most importantly how much prey, fresh water and undisturbed vegetative cover is available.   

There may be no more than 350 Sumatran tigers remaining in the wild, down from around 1,000 in the 1980s. In 1992, the Indonesian Department of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHPA) estimated that about 400 Sumatran tigers were living in five National Parks and two Game Reserves and another 100 in unprotected areas that would soon be lost to agriculture. Occurring in Way Kambas National Park, Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, within the large Gunung Leuser and Kerinci-Seblat National Parks and and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks. The largest population is estimated to be about 110 tigers in Gunung Leuser National Park. Tigers inhabit around 4,564,121 ha or 45,641 km2 - 9.63% of the total land area of Sumatra, at altitudes ranging from sea level to over 1,000 m.  Tigers are also found outside the network of protected areas, especially in rubber plantations where many of the attacks on man and livestock have been reported.   
range: The specific range size of this tiger is not know, however the population density is approximately 4–5 adult tigers per 100 km² (39 mile²) in optimal lowland rainforest. As you get higher into sub-montain and montain forests, the number of tigers in any given area decreases because there is less prey available.

Sumatran tiger status:
IUCN Status Category: Endangered

CITES Appendix: 1

Sumatran tigers are critically endangered. 1

Threats

Today the greatest threat to the Sumatran tiger is MAN. In Sumatra, tiger habitat is shrinking fast with timber resources being exploited on a large scale. The tiger in Sumatra faces precarious prospects if its present distribution continue to be substantially reduced and populations become small, fragmented and isolated from one another.  Loss of their natural habitat often leads tigers to move into settled areas in search of food, where they are sometimes destroyed.

Tiger poaching and illegal trading of tiger parts and products is one of the most immediate threats to the Sumatran tiger.  The increased demand for tiger parts for traditional healing - Chinese medicine has spread throughout Asia.  Nearly every part of the tiger is reported to have healing properties from the eyeball-a treatment for epilepsy to the whiskers - a cure for tooth ache.  Although trade in tiger parts is illegal poaching is widespread as a single adult can fetch up to $20,000 on the black market.   

Diet

Tigers are meat eaters (carnivores). Their prey includes small- to medium-sized mammals (like badgers, rabbits, boars, deer, and wild cattle), ranging in size from 60 to 2,000 pounds.

The Sumatran tiger prefers larger prey and quite often victims come from the deer family. These include the: Sambar; Common Barking Deer; Greater Mouse Deer.; Rusa. The Various pigs to be found throughout the island also provide a meal : Wild; Bearded and Warthogs. As well as other potential prey including porcupine; Crocodiles; Young Rhinos; Snakes; Tapir; Porcupine. 

The usual method of killing is to ambush the animal from behind and bite its neck; this usually breaks the prey's spinal cord, killing it. Tigers then drag the kill to a safe place in which they eat it. Tigers can eat as much as 40 pounds of meat in one sitting. They can go for days at a time without eating.  If the opportunity arises hoofed prey will be chased into water areas where the tiger's natural swimming ability gives it an advantage. 

Size

Adult tigers range from 4.5 feet to 9 feet long. Males are larger than females. The largest tigers are the Siberian tigers, weighing about 500 pounds; the Sumatrans are the  smallest of the living subspecies, weighing about 250 pounds. Tigers tails are 3-4 feet long.

Anatomy

Colour

The tigers distinctive orange with black striped coat is well known but did you know that no two tigers have the same stripes.  Scientists can tell a tiger by its coat - like our fingerprints. The Sumatran has the darkest coat of all the tigers ranging from reddish-yellow through to deep orange, its broad black stripes are closely spaced and often doubled this helps them hide in the forest. (camouflage). Unlike the Amur tiger it has striped forelegs.  The chin throat and undersides are whitish, while the neck has a short mane. 

Cheek tufts & Whiskers

This subspecies has extremely long whiskers which are effective sensors when moving through the particularly dense undergrowth of this tiger's habitat. The tufts could also protect them from branches and twigs.

Eyes

They have round pupils and yellow irises and see in colour. His large eyes at the front of the head give excellent binocular vision which is good for judging distances when running and pouncing.  Tigers are mostly nocturnal and so are well adapted for seeing in the dark - their night-time vision is very good.  FACT: At night he can see 6 times better than you or I can!

Teeth

Tigers have the largest canine teeth of any land-based carnivores. 

Tongue

Covered with sharp "Papillae" (like little raised pimples) which help them take the skin off flesh and flesh off bone.

Paws

Tigers walk on their toes.  Their feet are well haired around the pads so they can silently stalk their prey.

Claws

Tigers like all cats have sharp claws which they use to grip their prey.  Unlike Cheetah and like your pet cats their claws are retractable. (Which means they can put them away)- This stops them from wearing and keeps them sharp.

Limbs

A good agile climber, with good balance its hind legs are longer than their front, this enhances their ability to jump and pounce.  Although the Cheetah is the fastest cat over land the tiger can manage 70km (43 miles) an hour over short distances.

Tail

His tail is about half as long as his body - which he uses for balance when running at high speeds and in fast turns and also in communication.

Locomotion

Tigers are very fast quadrupeds (four-legged animals). Unlike most cats tigers are very good swimmers and like the water. Webbing between the cats toes helps them swim faster.

Behaviour and social habits

Tigers are mostly solitary animals except for times of mating and when the female cares for her young cubs. Sometimes tigers gather to share a large kill. Tigers are most active at night (they are primarily nocturnal), but are active in the day during the winter. Tigers mark out their territory, like most cats, by spraying their urine together with a glandular secretion, by leaving fecal droppings, or by scratching marks into trees with their claws. Tigers need a territory of about 10-30 or more square miles to provide enough prey to support them. The size of the territory depends on the amount of prey available in the area.

Reproduction

Tigers breed during the winter season and females give birth to 2-4 blind cubs about 103 days later. The cubs weigh about 2-3 pounds at birth. One cub frequently dies at birth. The cubs live on mother's milk for 6-8 weeks and then are introduced to meat. Cubs are dependant on the mother for about a year and a half; they can start hunting on their own at this age. Female tigers reach sexual maturity at about 3 years old; males reach maturity in about 4 years.

Where did tigers come from?

Tigers (and all other carnivores) are descended from civet-like animals called miacids that lived alongside the DINOSAURS about 60 million years ago.    Fossil remains have been found which put the tiger in Indonesia 2 million years ago

The tiger "a symbol of..."

Images of tigers have been discovered as far back as 1700 B.C. (4,000 years ago) and throughout history the tiger has been a symbol of both power and strength.  Used as executioners in Asian courts; for entertainment in European gladiatorial combats; and as a status symbol for monarchs.   
Tigers have long been thought to hold some mystical, supernatural power.   The shang people of China believed tigers (lau hu) were messengers between the human and spirit world, images of tigers were placed upon tombs to warn off evil spirits.  In the Hindu religion Shiva the destroyer rides a tiger (Bagh) and wears a tiger skin, followers of Buddah ride tigers to show their supernatural ability to overcome evil.  Forest dwellers of India built shrines and temples to worship them, Islam followers in Sumatra believe tigers (rimau) punish sinners on behalf of Allah.

Zoo Tigers

200-300 captive animals live in zoos around the world. In addition to the 65 Sumatran tigers living in Indonesian zoos, there are 55 tigers managed by North American zoos, 164 in European zoos(2003), and 12 in Australasian zoos. 

The Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Masterplan now has the potential to function as the heart of the Sumatran tiger population worldwide. It is designed to preserve sufficient genetic diversity to reinforce both captive and wild populations, thus fulfilling its goal to ensure that the in situ tiger program comprises verifiable founders permanently identified and registered in the Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Studbook. It also extends the capabilities of Indonesian zoo staff to professionally manage their tiger programs in Indonesia, and at the same time serves as a model for other range country tiger management programs in Southeast Asia.

Latest News

20 August 2007  World's first for tiger conservation  Translocated conflict tiger fitted with GPS collar - FIRST! MORE

18.07.07 2 Tigers caught by new cameras in wknp .. just 2 days after installing new cameras (supplied by STT) in Way Kambas 2 new tigers have been captured on film.... MORE

06.06.07  New tiger photos just in  captured on remote camera   MORE  

06.06.07 Second school opens - funded by STT MORE

01.06.07 Motorbikes funded by STT in use in the field MORE

23.05.07 Annual Report Way Kambas NP...MORE

08.05.07  Teams receive New essential equipment-motorbikes funded by STT Pics

08.05.07... workshop for the local communities... MORE 

30.04.07   Annual report Bukit Tigapuluh NP   Revealing the Mystery of Bukit Tigapuluh NP  MORE

Senepis- Latest 16/4/07 Government create corridor to Dumai causing major problems in Senepis...MORE

7/4/07 Protecting the tiger faced mushroom - rare rafflesia monitoring... MORE

A Week On Patrol In Bukit Duabelas National Park... More

Senepis - Latest news including:
Tiger spotted in village - capture attempted. MORE

Nov 2006 Drought Crisis in Way Kambas NP more

Datai village - Latest news and pics... including first ever letter from village child taught to read and write by the teacher funded by STT...More

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